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Noriko Sonozaki
Noriko Sonozaki (Japanese: 園崎法子, Romanized: Sonozaki Noriko) is a central character in the Kiznaiver anime and manga series. She is a beautiful, cold, and mysterious girl who brings the seven kiznaivers together (the exception being Hisomu, whom she instructed the other six to find on their own). Character Outline Everything she says and does is mystery. She is even more emotionless than Katsuhira, and doesn't show humane feelings. Appearance Noriko is an outstandingly beautiful girl. She has pale skin, silver eyes and long, light blue hair, with a braid along the crown. She wears her school uniform, but it is different from the other girls. It consists of a streamline blazer and skirt accented with blue. Both her petticoat and the long-sleeved blouse she wears under her blazer appear to have ruffles. She wears common black school shoes and thigh-high white socks. In place of what appears to be her school's standard necktie is a pale blue bow. She wears a diamond imprint around her neck, much like a choker necklace. She appears to be about 165 cm. However, she is mostly seen wearing her uniform shoes, which would add about three centimeters to her height. It is shown at the end of episode 8 and throughout episode 9, that Noriko has a Kiznaiver scar on the back of her neck, which had previously been covered up by a choker. Personality For the most part, Noriko displays very little emotion. Her words are hard and firm towards the Kiznaivers, believing that they can achieve world peace, but she fails to show common traits of humanity herself. Her beautiful intimidating appearance and her rare signs of emotions are similar to Katsuhira, but during Katsuhira's childhood flashbacks, it is shown that Noriko did smile a lot back when she was a child. More than anything, the Kiznaiver experiment seems to be her one and only goal. She stated to Mutsumi Urushibara that she wouldn't let the experiment fail no matter what, and speaks quite harshly towards the Mayor when he explains that they are losing their funding. Also, she doesn't seem to know as much about the Kiznaivers as she had previously implied, admitting that she named the Kiznaivers after the Seven Deadly Sins, but none of them actually live up to their given name. Interestingly, Noriko had told Katsuhira, before he became a Kiznaiver, that everyone in the world wants to connect with someone else. Noriko herself seems to be part of this philosophy, as she wants to find herself within Katsuhira. She possesses a little bit of curiosity about Katsuhira's feelings, as seen in episode 9 when she asks him if he likes her and how long he thinks about her each day. However, beyond this, true displays of emotion from Noriko have yet to be seen. In episode 10, it is revealed that her lack of emotions is because of a nullifying medicine that she takes regularly to lessen the pain from all nineteen test subjects that she inadvertently endures from the first Kiznaiver experiment. Plot Episode One and Two Noriko is first revealed in front of Katsuhira as a mysterious student of his class. She introduces herself to Katsuhira, then suddenly begins to talk about the Seven Deadly Sins that have appeared in Japan in the form of ordinary students, with Katsuhira being named the 'Imbecile'. After this, she explains that everyone in the world wants to connect with someone else and that this can be achieved if the Seven Deadly Sins can find a way to understand each other's feelings. Then, abruptly, Noriko asks Katsuhira to raise his hands and then pushes him down some stairs. It is revealed that she did this so that the Kiznaiver experiment could begin, causing Katsuhira to survive the fall as his pain was shared equally with the other Kiznaivers he was now connected to. During episode 2, she tasks the Kiznaivers with their first mission and asks each one of them to tell their most important secret. For every time the Kiznaivers failed to comply, she would order two Gomorins to strike Katsuhira with tasers, causing everyone to feel that same pain. She is later seen apologizing for this as she puts a bandage on Katsuhira and states that the people he has made bonds with are waiting for them both. She then threatens to drop Katsuhira from a building if the rest of the Kiznaivers do not quickly tell their secrets. Once hearing Katsuhira try to give his own secret, she accepts it as 'good enough' but notes that Katsuhira has forgotten something very important about his past. Episode Three Noriko is seen dismissing the Kiznaivers after their first mission, and shortly after, proceeds to give them their second mission. She tasks the Kiznaivers with finding the seventh and final Kiznaiver, which turns out to be Hisomu, who is machoistic. She is also seen giving a speech to the Kizna Committee, stating that they will do whatever they can with the seven Kiznaivers to try and achieve the 'ultimate bond'. Episode Four After the Kiznaivers are all gathered together, Noriko tells the seven Kiznaivers that they will go on a Summer trip with each other for them to bring out more of their own connections and bonds, calling it a perfect opportunity. While Honoka initially rejects the idea, Noriko convinces her to come by promising that she'll explain more about Kiznaivers and the Kizna Committee. As Noriko leaves the area, she is stopped by the pursuing Katsuhira who asks her for her email address, and asks her to come along on the Summer trip. Noriko accepts. Once on the bus, Tenga is seen trying to break the awkward silence between everyone by playing a game called 'Shiritori', but becomes discouraged as Noriko does her best to deliberately lose the game. Irritated, Honoka stops the game and asks Noriko to keep her promise. After some hesitation, Noriko explains that the Kizna experiment started to connect people and bring world peace, and that the city that the seven Kiznaivers live in, called Sugomori, is actually an experimental city for this purpose. She reveals that the Kizna Committee is allowed to continue in its experiments because of different kinds of funding by both companies and countries. After they get out of the bus, Katsuhira offers to hold some of Noriko's luggage, and Noriko accepts. Episode Five After everyone has settled down in a small house belonging to the Kizna Committee, Noriko receives a call from Mutsumi Urushibara that another experiment must be conducted on the Kiznaivers. Noriko asks why this must be done so soon, but quickly adds that she is not complaining. At night, when most of the Kiznaivers are asleep, Katsuhira and Noriko meet in the hall. Katsuhira is surprised as he sees Noriko wearing childish pajamas, but Noriko casually explains that she only wears them because she never really grew out of them. After this, Katsuhira asks why Noriko decided to come along on the Summer trip with the seven Kiznaivers, but Noriko explains that she only came because he asked her to. Noriko then slaps Katsuhira's cheek to kill a mosquito that had been resting on it. Once the Kiznaivers complete their third mission, Noriko tells Urushibara and Yamada that the Kiznaivers have accomplished something that no other group of people could, and that the Kiznaiver experiment might still succeed if results continue at the fast rate that they are. Episode Six Speaking to the seven Kiznaivers through a voice message, Noriko informs the Kiznaivers that they are making good progress and that they can now feel each other's emotional thoughts thanks to the Kizna system. Yuta and Hisomu question this connection and ask Noriko if they can read each other's minds, to which Noriko explains that they might have the potential of that someday. Noriko meets with the Mayor after this, and is informed that continuing the Kiznaiver experiment might not be possible. Hearing this, Noriko appears seemingly angered and tells the Mayor to 'have a bun to calm your buns'. Then, at the Kiznaivers' next mission, Noriko tasks everyone with 'Saving Honoka' as she is going through emotional trauma. To push more emotional pain out of Honoka, Noriko hires a TV crew and drives them to harass Honoka to the point of breaking. Once the Kiznaivers get rid of the TV crew, Katsuhira eventually finds Noriko and sees her playing a piano. Noriko notices his presence and states that he has a frightening look on his face. Katsuhira asks Noriko if she really thinks that they saved Honoka by getting rid of the TV crew, and once Noriko says yes, Katsuhira simply says that he's disappointed in her. Hearing those words causes Noriko to physically shake and feel drawn back by that, telling Katsuhira that they were incredibly powerful words. Though she tries not to show it, she is affected emotionally. Episode Seven Noriko is seen sitting at her desk, remembering the sentence that Katsuhira had said to her, and pushing away an old photo of her childhood. Episode Eight Near the beginning, Noriko is again seen remembering what Katsuhira had said to her and stating that she 'does not understand.' Later, when conducting the next experiment on the Kiznaivers, Yamada constructs a love chart to show the different love interest between the Kiznaivers. Noriko is not surprised and deduces that Katsuhira has romantic feelings for her, stating that she was not aware of this. She then tries to draw out Katsuhira's feelings to continue the experiment, leaving the underground laboratory to reach the surface. Feeling his connection with Noriko, Katsuhira rushes to her location and saves her from a falling statue that would have fallen onto her. Unfazed, Noriko asks if she still exists within Katsuhira, then takes off her choker to reveal that she has a Kizna scar and that she is connected to him. Episode Nine Noriko falls unconscious, and when she awakes, she is alone with Katsuhira as the two of them are being recorded. She asks Katsuhira if he loves her, and then asks how often he thinks of her. In response, Katsuhira asks Noriko if the two of them really are connected as Kiznaivers. Noriko confirms this and explains that the two of them were made Kiznaivers when they were just children, and then Katsuhira had simply forgotten about it. Remembering this, Katsuhira's old Kizna scar reappears on his chest and he feels pain as he begins to remember his childhood with her. Worried, Noriko gets close to him and examines his scar, and then notes that the two of them are still connected after so many years. The rest of the Kiznaivers find Noriko and Katsuhira, and Chidori is overwhelmed by jealousy at the sight of the two. In her sadness, the other Kiznaivers are able to momentarily hear Chidori's inner voice, and Noriko is shocked by this. Even though the Kiznaivers then proceed to go through an emotional breakdown, Noriko comes back during the aftermath and tells everyone that their mission has been cleared and that they do not need to be Kiznaivers any longer. Episode Ten As Noriko is again confronted by the Mayor and told that the Kiznaiver experiment must come to an end, Noriko quickly leaves the room and runs to the roof of the building, preparing herself to jump off in order to 'show the results of the Kizna system'. Instead, Noriko falls unconscious before she falls off. Feeling a sensation of pain from his chest, Katsuhira realizes that something may have happened to Noriko and finds the underground laboratory where she worked with Urushibara. Mutsumi Urushibara finds Katsuhira and decides to explain more about Noriko while she is still unconscious. It is revealed that during the Kiznaiver experiment conducted on children, there was a fatal error that caused one child to feel nineteen times the pain than usual, instead of the pain being shared equally. That one child was Noriko. Because she always felt nineteen times the pain than she was meant to and because she could feel every sensation of each child, including sitting and running, Noriko would constantly feel incredible pain. To remedy this, ever since she was a child, Noriko would have to take an injection to nullify all of her senses to keep herself from feeling constant pain. But due to her body unconsciously taking every other child's pain and never giving it back (because she was suffering from loneliness), the other children lost their ability to feel emotional and physical pain. Some of the children were still able to keep some of their pain, such as Katsuhira, but others no longer felt anything It is also revealed during a flashback that, during their childhood, Noriko did in fact love Katsuhira. Relationships Katsuhira Agata Despite Katsuhira not recognizing Noriko even though the two came from the same year and class section — even going so far as to ask her who she was when they first met, Noriko has shown that she may know Katsuhira well, as was hinted when she told him that he "hadn't changed" after she pulls herself extremely close to his face and he tells her that the only times he had been this close to another is when he gets beaten up. Noriko also accepts Katsuhira's "secret", which noted by others was more of a belief than a secret — on the grounds that Katsuhira, himself, had forgotten what it was though, which suggests that she knows what it is though she opts not to tell him or the other Kiznaivers this. Due to Katsuhira's newfound interest in knowing about himself and connecting with others, it is seen that he wants to know her better perhaps on the grounds of suspicion that Noriko is somehow connected to his reoccurring nightmares and flashbacks. Much to Chidori's jealousy and dismay, Noriko calls him by his first name and Katsuhira calls her Nori-chan. In episode 9, she is seen taking off her choker to reveal a scar that matches the other Kiznaivers and asks Katsuhira if she exists inside him. She is confirmed to be the girl from his memories. Katsuhira had also hugged her. Noriko herself states that she wants to 'find herself within him', but cannot do so until Katsuhira is able to regain his ability to feel pain. It is also revealed that, as a child, she did love him and he loved her back. After Katsuhira declares his love for her, they both fall off a bridge due to Noriko's Kiznaiver reacting. They are both seen in a hospital where they talk and reconcile, and almost kiss before Chidori and the others interrupt them. In response to Chidori freaking out from this sight, Noriko says their relationship will start off pure unless Katsuhira supposedly pushes her to the ground one day. Chidori Takashiro The subject of Chidori's jealousy along with Katsuhira due to his and Noriko's seemingly newfound relationship, though she adamantly denies this for the most part until Tenga offers to help her out with her relationship with the latter. With much dismay, she notices Katsuhira's attempts to get closer to Noriko and how much he seems to think about or mention her, which ultimately just fuels her jealousy and anger. In the last episode, Chidori finally accepts Katsuhira's romantic feelings towards Noriko and realizes her selfishness towards something like this and helps Katsuhira save Noriko. Mutsumi Urushibara Mutsumi was one of the researchers who cared for Noriko and the other 19 children in their childhood. It is stated in episode 10 that Mutsumi thought of the children, including Noriko, as younger siblings. Mutsumi is very protective of Noriko and refers to her as "Nori-chan." Nico Niiyama Among the rest of the Kiznaivers, Nico disapproves of Noriko's actions but still wants to befriend her while Noriko is indifferent to Nico in the beginning. In the end of the last episode, Nico is really friendly towards Noriko and wants her to be part of the group. Hajime Tenga Among the rest of the Kiznaivers, Tenga is annoyed by the fact that Noriko knows everything about them and controls the situations that directly concern them while being greatly calm and collected. Noriko is indifferent to Tenga and she asks him to refrain from speaking so rudely about her. Tenga is often seen threatening her while Noriko ignores him, calling her 'the enemy' and is overall frustrated with her and Katsuhira for his own selfish reasons such as the romantic feelings he harbors for Chidori. In the last episode, he seems happy while he has gotten over the previous things that troubled him and teases Noriko and Katsuhira for being flirty. Yoshiharu Hisomu Hisomu seems to like Noriko and he is polite whenever he is around her, just like he is with everyone else. Honoka Maki Maki wasn't really fond of Noriko and Noriko is indifferent to Maki. In the last episode, she also initially refuses to help her, stating that Noriko is the one who brought them all into this mess. In the last episode, she visited her and Katsuhira in the hospital and now she seems to be on friendly terms with her. Tsuguhito Yuta The two of them seem to be on good terms with each other as shown in the last episode. Quotes * "Everyone wants to connect with someone else." (To Katsuhira, episode 1) * "Yes, from today, you're all Kiznaivers." (To the Kiznaivers, episode 1) * "Does the smell of a girl excite you?" (To Katsuhira, episode 2) * "I was taught to gratefully accept others' kindness." (To Katsuhira, episode 4) * "Have a bun to calm your buns." * "I love you too, Katsuhira-kun!" (To Katsuhira as a child in a flashback, episode 10) Trivia * When Noriko vaguely mentions her own perceived sin in episode 7, "The Forgetful Priss," she is likely referring to the commonly forgotten Eighth Deadly Sin in classical literature: Despond, or a chronic outlook of gloom and despair. * Gomorin's design looks similar to Noriko's old, ripped, stuffed toy. With that said, there is a high probability that Noriko invented Gomorins herself. * She bears a striking resemblance to Esdeath from Akame ga Kill. References Kiznaiver episodes 1-10Category:Characters Category:Female Characters